The House has rejected a bill to prohibit law enforcement from using less lethal and non-lethal weapons on drones.
Two years ago, the Legislature prohibited the use of lethal weapons on drones.
The bill’s sponsor – Rep. Rick Becker (R-Bismarck) – said North Dakota was the first state in the country to allow any kind of weapons on those unmanned aerial vehicles. He told the House allowing weapons removes what he calls the “humanity” of law enforcement officers.
"You take out that humanity, you take away the aspect of really knowing what's going on," Becker said. "You take out the ability of the officer to look into the eyes of the person he's going to be deploying a weapon upon."
Rep. Kim Koppelman (R-West Fargo) said he worries the bill would tie the hands of law enforcement.
"Let's say they wanted to employ tear gas to disperse a riot," Koppelman said. "What would be more strategic than lobbing it or having something more precise? They (law enforcement) have no intent of doing that. But why in the world would we pass a law saying they coould never do something like that?"
The bill failed 56 to 36.
